


Here Comes The Sun

by vanityvause



Category: Emmerdale, vanity - Fandom
Genre: F/F, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-23 13:46:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16160141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanityvause/pseuds/vanityvause
Summary: Charity can’t sleep, neither can Johnny but Vanessa bloody can.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Work in progress. No beta reader. Rusty AF writer. Be kind. Tips, ideas and comments welcome.

The middle of the night is the most peaceful time for most people, people who aren't Charity Dingle that is.

With a heavy sigh she turned onto her back in a dramatic flop that she was almost certain would have woken anyone normal, but not her girlfriend. Vanessa Woodfield slept like the dead and was cute while she was at it, it would have annoyed Charity if it had been anyone else. The tiny blonde was out like a light the second her head hit the pillow and she hadn't moved an inch since.

Charity would have thought to check for a pulse if it weren't for the tell tale snores coming from the small form beside her.

They'd been curled up together at the beginning of the night, Charity getting to play the big spoon, peppering little kisses along her girlfriend's jaw as said girlfriend asked a question about Charity's day and didn't manage to stay awake long enough to hear the answer.

Charity didn't mind, when she was suffering from sleep deprivation and her grump level was at an all time high, a quiet Vanessa was a better Vanessa to have around. A safe one. A Vanessa Charity didn't have to worry about snapping at, because let's face it, it had happened more times than she was proud of.

While staring at the ceiling, watching the lights of a passing car dance across the paint work, Charity wondered who the hell was out there at that time of night and cursed them for it despite the light show giving her something to focus on for two minutes.

It was when she was most relaxed that a mouse-like voice piped up and brought a near heart attack with it.

"Mummy?"

Charity almost jumped right out of the bed she shared with Vanessa, the car with it's bothersome lights had since gone and that left the room in complete darkness once again. Darker than dark, the kind of dark you experience when your eyes haven't yet adjusted to the blackness that engulfs your vision.

"...Johnny?" Charity whispered back in the kindest hiss she could muster.

She wasn't sure who else it would be, Johnny was the only other person in the house and it would have to be a very special kind of burglar to come sneaking in asking for his mummy.

"I want my mummy." The little voice responded. The soft sound of small bare feet padding across the wood floor followed for just a few steps and then stopped dead in their tracks.

Charity wasn't in the mood to play babysitter or mummy number two. Whatever she was to Johnny at this point. And her not so inner diva almost found the nerve to lay back down and turn her back on the small boy, already thinking up her excuses for the next morning when he potentially blurted out that he’d come looking for Vanessa and been faced with Charity throwing up a no vacancy sign on the adults bedroom door.

She didn’t leave him waiting long, her stupid heart had grown five times it’s original size since Vanessa had come into her life and that brought a real sense of guilt along with it.

It was sometimes a lot easier to keep hidden behind protective barriers even if that meant the world saw her as a monster.

As Charity’s green eyes adjusted to the dark, Johnny’s silhouette came into view. His bloody adorable three year old stature with his feet turned slightly in due to the anxiety of waiting there in the middle of a dark room.

Then with a little more light, those bloomin’ eyeballs of his. Big and blue and puppy dog like, like his mother’s.

Huffing was the theme of the night for Charity and despite feeling weak to the cuteness that stood but a foot away from her, she took in a deep breath and let a huff back out.

“Well, little man, she’s sleeping right now, isn’t she!”

The small boy didn’t respond for a couple of seconds, he took his time to crane his neck just enough to see if he could spot his mother on the other side of Charity but without much light and being so short, he didn’t have much hope. Instead he blinked, not moving an inch in any direction.

“Babe, it’s the middle of the night, why don’t you totter off back to your bed, eh? You can see your mummy bright and early in the morning... while I’m still in dream land for a good few hours hopefully.” Charity pleaded in the way she did best. An ever so slightly manipulative way.

Johnny wasn’t having any of it. She could barely see him but she could see the way the small amount of light left in the room decided to bloody well gather in the tears forming in his puppy dog eyes.

And she could just about manage to make out the bottom lip that had jutted out into the perfect pout, another thing he’d gotten directly from his mother.

“Oh no, Johnny, don’t do that—“

It was as if on cue, right before the full stop could land at the end of her sentence, Johnny let out a sob that may as well have echoed around the room and clashed about inside his mum’s eardrums.

Charity shot a look back behind her, half expecting a dazed but still very disappointed face to be staring back at her, but it was her lucky day, or something like it and instead all she saw was the same peaceful little lump in the bed that had been there all night.

Would anything wake her? A tsunami? Earthquake maybe?

In lightning-like speed, Charity shot out of bed and swept up the crying child from the floor.

“Hey, hey, Johnny-boy, what’s going on? Is there a monster under your bed or something?”

She could pretend to be a hard faced cow but the way her hand gently rubbed the toddler’s back in a soothing manner said otherwise.

His eyes widened like he’d seen a ghost and she quickly kicked herself internally for her choice of words.

“Well, there can’t be can there, ‘cause babe, monsters don’t exist do they.”

Much to Charity’s surprise, Johnny put his thumb in his mouth and settled himself down against her shoulder, a tiny hand clinging to the T-shirt she’d worn to bed.

She was confused for a moment but quickly replaced that feeling with one of gratefulness, for the fact that the whole palava had rectified itself without much effort from her and even though he was clinging to her like he thought she had the same magical powers Vanessa did when I came to nightmares, poorly tummies and bumped knees, at least the kid wasn’t crying anymore.

Charity’s legs started to remind her of the time of night and that she’d been on them for most of the evening doing an actual full shift at the Woolpack for once and the dull ache lead her to take a seat on the edge of the bed bringing the little boy with her.

He didn’t seem to mind, he adjusted his chubby little legs accordingly, curling up in her lap like she was his comfort blanket.

The blonde couldn’t begin to explain the flutter that put in her heart, nor would she probably admit to it, but instead of insisting she carry him back to his bed so that she could get back to failing to sleep, she cradled him like she would had he been her own toddler, Moses.


	2. Little Darlin'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanessa wakes up. Johnny wakes up. Charity does not. 
> 
> This is a filler chapter but still a bit of mother/son cuteness that we don't really get to see. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback, ideas, love and SOME criticism (ha!) etc appreciated.

A good few hours passed by since Vanessa's son had crept into his mother's bedroom looking for comfort and Charity had finally found the door to dream land with terrible timing, Vanessa was just rising from her slumber and the first thing she wanted to do was greet the woman who was supposed to have slept all night beside her.

With a soft groan as she stretched out her stiff limbs, Vanessa smiled to herself at the sight of Charity's back curled away from her. It wasn't ideal that she was facing in the other direction and not the best thought-provoker when it came to the body language on display, but with the way things had progressed in recent weeks between the two women, the smaller blonde was confident enough to believe that she'd know full well if Charity Dingle didn't want to be in her bed beside her.

Leaning over, Vanessa took it upon herself to plant a lingering kiss on Charity's face. The scent of coconut shampoo and... alcohol? Yes, definitely alcohol, made her chuckle to herself as she breathed the other woman in. A quiet hum of appreciation for both the scent so typical to her girlfriend and the warmth of her back pressed against Vanessa's torso escaped in a breath that quickly hitched as her eyes opened. Was that...?

"Johnny?"

The little boy didn't respond, he hadn't woken up yet either and was snuggled in with the woman who, albeit without much grace, had rescued him from the nightmare he'd had while his mum’s hero cape was hung up for the night.

Charity’s arm was so firmly around the toddler that his body was resting more against her than it was on the bed and he seemed to be completely and utterly at ease.

“Be still my beating heart.”

Vanessa couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. Johnny was an absolute nightmare when it came to going to bed, so much so that even his doting auntie Tracy dreaded putting him down when he stayed over with her. For such a small boy who looked like an angel, there was suddenly a whole lot of arms and legs and noise. So much noise.

But there he was laying peacefully in the seemingly very protective arms of his mummy’s girlfriend. The supposedly tough and downright scary, Charity Dingle. Her equally peaceful face was cast down with her nose just an inch or so from the top of the small boy’s head.

That was the way she cuddled her own boys and sometimes the way she cuddled the woman who watched in awe.

That was the way she’d hold you if were precious to her and oh, God, Vanessa’s chest heaved. Was it possible she was at risk of her heart actually bursting right out of her body? Tears of joy welled in her eyes, quickly dabbed away with the back of her hand to ward them off.

 

Choosing to not wake the two still sleeping, Vanessa slipped out of bed like the tiny ninja woman that she was and made a beeline for the wardrobe to grab whatever outfit she could find without opening the curtains to let in the morning’s sun.

The doors creaked, earning a hissed “Shh!” from Vanessa despite her knowing full well that it was an inanimate object and didn’t control the noises that came from it.

When she’d managed to grab a whole outfit complete with a fresh set of underwear and a pair of socks to save her toes from the cold tiles of the kitchen floor, the small blonde quietly exited the room to head to the bathroom to get herself ready for the day.

Half an hour later Vanessa emerged from the bathroom looking as pristine as ever.

Except for her hair. She'd mislaid her hairbrush.

She’d avoided a shower to save making too much noise but a wash, a clean set of clothes and a simple layer of makeup had her as fresh as a daisy. She only had her hair left to battle with and she would be all set for the day.

Vanessa’s brush had somehow sprouted legs and made it’s own way into the bedroom from the bathroom so she had to creep back in to retrieve it. Just as her hand touched the plastic handle of her brush, Johnny awoke from his sleep and made it known with a wriggle and a grumble as he stretched his own body out.

“Mornin' angel,” the early bird greeted her son with a soft smile, abandoning the brush back on the bedside table to instantly assist the little one in escaping Charity’s hold without making her stir.

It was a feat but not impossible and with a quick but gentle tug, Johnny had moved from one set of arms to another.

Charity also slept like the dead, it just took her much more effort to get there. She didn’t wake up but she did turn over and face plant in the pillows like a starfish, unconsciously pulling the one that smelled most like Vanessa in to snuggle up to. Vanessa took a moment to let that vision consume her but it was quickly ruined by the sight of her girlfriend’s bare behind on display. The oversized T-shirt she was wearing had carelessly ridden up during the move.

Now, of course that wasn’t a terrible sight for Vanessa, she’d seen it and appreciated it more times than she could count by now but Johnny hadn’t and Johnny wasn’t allowed to!

Mum instincts kicked in in no time at all and Vanessa was out of there, Johnny on her hip, in record time. 

“Oops. How about we um,” How was she supposed to think again?

Charity’s bum. Charity’s bum. CHARITY DINGLE’S —

The click of the door closing behind them snapped her out of it.

 

“I want to wear my tractor pants today,” Johnny’s three year old witterings helped with that too. “I will give some to Chawity too.”

Vanessa’s whole face flushed red. Her son had just had an eyeful of her girlfriend and now he was suggesting he lend her a pair of his tractor pants to cover her modesty.

“I’m sure she’d love that, sweetheart.”

She wanted to laugh but the innocence of it all made her melt a little more instead.

 

In Johnny’s bedroom, Vanessa placed him down on his feet and let him wander off to explore the toys he hadn’t seen in a few hours while she rifled through his drawers to find something for him to wear for the day. Luckily the tractor underpants were easy to find, as well as a pair of socks and some jeans but Johnny could be very particular about what top he was going to put on.

Glancing back from her crouched position in front of the chest of drawers, Vanessa asked, “So what T-shirt are you wearing today? Is it a Paw Patrol kind of morning or are we going for the tractor one to match your pants?”

The little one looked up from his toy garage and shot his mother a look that suggested she was crazy, and maybe she was. Who in their right mind matched their T-shirt to their underwear?

“Iron man.” He replied simply.

“Do you have an Iron man shirt?”” Vanessa was pretty sure she was familiar with all of her son’s items of clothing. She was responsible for buying them, washing them and dressing him in them. She would know if he had an Iron man shirt, wouldn’t she?

“Yes.” He told her, now more interested in the truck that didn’t seem to want to fit into the parking spot he was forcing it into.

Vanessa was puzzled. She delved back into the middle drawer where she’d carefully folded and placed each one of Johnny’s T-shirt’s after they’d been washed and ironed. “What colour is this Iron man shirt, Johnny?”

“Green.” The truck that refused to cooperate was green.

 

It took ten minutes of rummaging and five more of Johnny insisting he put on his own trousers despite keep putting both feet down the same leg hole, for Vanessa to finally find the allusive shirt.

“Okay buddy, first of all this is a red shirt... you know red!” She assured him, knowing they’d spent hours upon hours reading through those god awful early education type books that helped parents teach their preschoolers about this and that. “And secondly, I think this one belongs to Moses.”

Normally Vanessa would just give in and let Johnny put on one of Moses tops but she knew for a fact that three year old boys were very possessive of their things and that red T-shirt happened to be one of Charity’s youngest’s very favourites.

She hated putting her foot down but she did, picking out a different shirt for her boy to wear and approaching him with it. The look on his face was similar to one you might see in a horror film, the audacity of his mum coming at him with a T-shirt that had Spider-Man on the front instead of Iron man.

 

Johnny was saved by the bell. Someone at the door caused Vanessa to hand the little boy the Spider-Man T-shirt and tell him to put it on himself while she went to let in his as good as slightly older brother who’d been staying over night with his dad.

As Vanessa legged it down the stairs, Johnny cheekily pushed the new T-shirt under his bed in a small, not very well hidden heap and pulled on the one he’d wanted to wear all along. Except backwards. They were both red, his mum wouldn’t notice surely.

 

At the front door, Vanessa greeted Ross and Moses, letting Charity’s son plonk himself down on the floor and take off his shoes while she got any information she may have needed to pass on to the still snoozing one upstairs once she was up and about.

“He hasn’t eaten anything, I was hoping you’d be able to get him to eat breakfast.” Ross explained.

Vanessa modded, “We’re lazy bums in this house, some of us aren’t even up yet let alone fed.”

Ross’s eyes cast upwards towards the stairs and the sight of Johnny carefully making his way down each step while clinging to the handrail let him know all he needed to know. His baby mama was the lazy one Vanessa was so politely avoiding referring to.

They said their goodbyes, Ross scruffing his hand over Moses’s hair and telling him to be good for Vanessa before he left.

Johnny had finally made it to the bottom of the stairs, beaming with excitement at seeing his little playmate, who bounded over to show him a kinder egg toy he’d acquired while at his dad’s.

Vanessa loved seeing the boys together, their bond growing more each with the time they got to spend together. She noted that Johnny’s shirt wasn’t the Spider-Man one she’d handed to him but it wasn’t until the two boys turned their backs on her to run off and dig into their now shared box of toys that she spotted Iron man on his back.

“Cheeky little bugger.” she said under her breath with a small laugh to follow.


	3. It's Alright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charity wakes up. Hooray! 
> 
> She and Vanessa are domestic AF for a bit.
> 
> There's humour and it's light-hearted until an important question comes up.

Getting the two little tearaways to eat breakfast wasn’t an issue in this house. Getting them to eat a nutritious one however, that was another story, but Vanessa was in a really good mood and that meant her two favourite (small) boys and her other half (if she made it down in time) were going to be treated to pancakes.   
  
Half an hour later and Vanessa had placed a generous sized fluffy pancake on four plates and was busy juggling watching two small boys furiously crash their toy cars into each other with chopping up strawberries and bananas into slices she could decorate the pancakes with.   
  
Charity appeared at the bottom of the stairs in the same long T-shirt she’d been to bed in, her hair somehow looking perfectly gorgeous in soft curls that tumbled over her shoulders on either side.   
  
“Afternoon.” Vanessa smirked from the kitchen as her love made a detour to the two little ones who were sat on the floor playing together. 

"It's half nine in the morning, you crank." Charity replied with an edge of sass to her tone that was usually reserved for teenagers.

She planted a kiss on each boy’s head in turn and muttered something about the violence of their game to herself, though the slight grin on her face didn’t say she was upset or appalled by it.

She slowly made her way around the table towards Vanessa, wrapping her arms around her from behind the moment she got there. These displays of affection weren’t uncommon anymore, she was completely comfortable in her own skin within their little family situation and it showed. Her lips brushed Vanessa’s shoulder through the long-sleeved T-shirt she wore before her chin came to rest in the same exact spot her kiss had just landed.   
  
“Firstly, you look like a scarecrow,” she delivered in a velvet tone as if it was the world’s best compliment.   
  
“Oi!” Vanessa didn’t fall for it for even a split second. “I lost my hairbrush,” she answered defensively. “Twice.” But made no attempts to tidy the haystack sitting atop her head, she was too busy concentrating on the task at hand. Making pancakes look beautiful, taste wonderful and have a bit of goodness in them via the fruit.   
  
“Secondly, nice socks,” Charity was on a roll this morning.  
  
Vanessa cast her eyes down and only in that moment did she realise she was wearing mismatching— horribly mismatching, a plain black and a rainbow polka dot, socks. She had no excuse and just sighed in defeat.  
  
“And thirdly—“ Charity was loving this a little too much, so Vanessa decided to put her foot down and throw in the only grenade she had.   
  
Turning around in her girlfriend’s arms, leaving the knife and the fruit behind her, Vanessa snaked her arms over Charity’s shoulders and smiled brightly, giving the other woman a taste of her own medicine.   
  
“Johnny saw your bum.”   
  
“What?!” The taller woman seemed horrified.  
  
“He saw your bum.” Vanessa giggled, proud of herself for such a reaction.   
  
“Well, lucky Johnny-boy, eh.” Charity sniggered, stealing a slice of strawberry from one of the plates beside them, automatically ruining one of Vanessa’s perfect fruit happy faces.   
  
Vanessa glared. “I just hope you’ve got something on under there now.”   
  
“Yeah, alright babe!” Charity snapped, her glare back quite a comical one. 

There was a moment of silence with the two women looking at one another. The glares had since died a death and Vanessa's eyebrow had quirked in curiosity, she could almost see the whirring cogs in her girlfriend's brain.   
  
What was she up to?   
  
"Course I have," Charity added with a somewhat defeated sigh. It was as if she wanted to be parading around the kitchen without undergarments, but the presence of two small children kind of ruined that, didn't it.   
  
The taller blonde leaned in, pressing her lips to a spot just below Vanessa's ear. "They're yours and they're really, really sexy too."  
  
The way she delivered her line in a warm breath against Vanessa's neck made the smaller of the two weak at the knees. That was until she let the words that had been spoken sink in.

Vanessa's face was a picture, one of confusion and ...more confusion. A fresh flush of red to her cheeks too. She couldn't decide if she was disgusted or turned on but she didn't have the chance to find out thanks to her lovely girlfriend.

"RIGHT you two herberts!" Charity called as she planted a quick peck on Vanessa's cheek and abandoned her to go and grab two of the four plates. "Bottoms on chairs before I gobble up ya pancakes myself."   
  
Johnny and Moses were used to the way Charity spoke to them and almost fell over themselves getting up from their game to come and receive their breakfasts.   
  
Vanessa's pancakes with fruit faces were the best! She rarely ever burned them, they were far more fortunate than a once-cooked lasagne.  
  
Charity carefully placed a plate in front of each child, both pancakes complete with strawberry eyes, banana hair and blueberries for a smile.   
  
The boys bypassed the cutlery that had been set on the table before they climbed up and went in with their hands. Sounds of appreciation filled the air, making Vanessa's heart sing. 

Charity claimed her seat at one of the ends of the table, watching the boys demolish what was clearly one of their favourite breakfasts of all time. She, too was melting on the inside but the look of boredom on her face as she rested her chin in her hands and waited for her own breakfast, covered that up for her.   
  
"Here you go, love." Vanessa interrupted, putting a fresh cup of coffee down in front of her girlfriend.   
  
Charity smiled. She didn't need to express her thanks, Vanessa knew fine well that Charity wasn't the most gracious of people at the best of times, let alone first thing in the morning before food or caffeine.

It would come, Charity's gratitude was often delayed.  
  
The shorter woman pottered around at the counter top with her back to the kitchen table for another couple of minutes, eventually turning around to plonk a plate of breakfast down in front of her other half. On it was the same appetising fluffy pancake with, yes, a fruit face but for Charity there were added angry eyebrows perfectly formed out of a line of blueberries and the mouth was a large circle made of banana slices.   
  
"Cute." Charity commented, quite proud of getting the only angry pancake face there was to offer. It didn't last long, immediately losing an eye to Charity's fork.   
  
At the other end of the table, Vanessa claimed her own seat, bringing her plate and a jug of weakened orange juice to the table for herself and the boys.

When food was on offer, the house was at its most peaceful aside from when it was empty or everyone was fast asleep in their beds. Johnny and Moses hadn’t even looked up from their plates, little hands stuffing different pieces of fruit and the occasional torn off chunk of pancake into their mouths.  
  
“Did we forget to feed them for a couple of weeks, babe?” Charity asked in a way that almost sounded serious.  
  
Vanessa had to admit, the way they were eating did suggest such a thing.  
  
“I don’t know, I haven’t fed them, have you?” She shot a soft smile across the table at the other woman and continued attacking her own breakfast.   
  
The humour shared between the two women was something Charity enjoyed a lot. Vanessa seemed to just get her. Now and then of course Charity would take things a little too far, but her tiny rocket woman was no pushover and would soon put her in her place. The rest of the time the banter they shared was ongoing and they bounced off one another effortlessly.   
  
“Nope.” Charity replied nonchalantly. “We should probably feed ‘em more often though, I think they’re gonna devour the plates once their food’s gone.”  
  
The women’s chatter went completely over the boys heads, it wasn’t that they didn’t understand, though perhaps they didn’t, it was more that they didn’t care to listen. They were used to the background noise of their respective mothers wittering on about this or that. Not much of any subject at hand interested two three year old children.  
  
“So,” Vanessa threw in as smoothly as a brick hitting a window. “what are we gonna call ourselves?”   
  
Charity didn’t give her girlfriend time to finish, the snarky mare piping up with, “Charity and Vanessa.”  
  
Of course that comment got an eye roll and a half from the smaller woman.   
  
Charity seemed to actually feel bad now and then when she’d been cheeky and got handed a certain look from Vanessa that said she wasn’t amused. “...Well, what do you mean, babes?”   
  
Vanessa softened. She wasn’t mad, she was fully used to the way Charity was and it was a big part of why she loved her so much. She did like it when Charity so clearly felt remorse when it came to her and backtracked though, it made her feel a bit fuzzy in her stomach.   
  
“I mean, when I’m referring to you while talking to both of the boys. Mummy slash Charity gets a bit confusing.”   
  
The other woman had made leaps and bounds in this relationship, in her own skin even, but this question wasn’t one she had been anticipating. In fact it seemed to come out of nowhere.   
  
“I dunno, Vanessa. What do you think?”  
  
Vanessa blinked. That wasn’t a very helpful response, was it.   
  
“What??” Charity whimpered, seemingly exasperated by the subject already.  
  
Vanessa just shook her head, a deep breath in helped her swallow her words for another time and she went back to eating her pancake.  
  
The silence in the room was uncomfortable, something that hadn’t happened in a really long time and that made Charity feel uneasy. She may have been the more outspoken of the two, but she certainly wasn’t the most confident.   
  
“Ness...”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charity and Vanessa discuss that question. Sort of. Idiocy ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't over, it just keeps glitching and returning to "completed work" despite editing the chapter numbers. Shrug.

"It's just, it's confusing is all." Vanessa shrugged, only looking up from her breakfast for a split second to lock eyes with her girlfriend.

Charity took a moment before adding her own two pence.

"...Is it though?" 

It was always a bit awkward when the two women weren't on the same page but for once it didn't alarm either one of them to the point of panic. They had surpassed that, for the most part. More often than not they did agree but they were very different women and that automatically meant that now and again they were going to have clashing opinions, it was how they chose to deal with those clashing opinions that counted. 

"Babe, I just don't think I'm ready for 'Thing One' and 'Thing Two' just yet." Charity looked almost guilt-ridden despite the childish air quotes around each nickname.

What on God's Green Earth was Vanessa Woodfield doing to her? 

"It's hardly Thing One and Thing Two, is it." Vanessa weighed in, "We're just mums and Mum One and Mum Two sounds kind of ridiculous."

The opposing blonde bit her tongue. If she kept silent for a minute maybe Vanessa would think back over her words and see where she was coming from. It did sound ridiculous and probably even more confusing to the boys than simply referring to each woman by her name if she wasn't the one who gave birth to him, but bloody hell it seemed like Vanessa was tuned in to Charity's brain and instead of eating her words she went and read her girlfriend's mind instead.

"Like, say," The smaller woman began, "what if we were to have another baby, wha--"

Before she had a chance to continue her thought out loud, convinced that she was making a good plea for her case, Charity dropped her fork onto her plate with an almighty crash.

"Whoa Nessy!" Something only Charity Dingle could come out with without time to even think it up. "We're not having any more babies!" 

Vanessa rolled her eyes so hard this time that she was sure they actually ached as a result. 

"Oh shut up, will ya?" Did Charity really think Vanessa wanted to add more kids to their tribe? Grown up or otherwise.

Charity groaned, hushing her mouth to let her girlfriend finish.

"Hypothetically," Vanessa said, adding in quickly and emphatically, "if we were to have another baby which will never ever... ever happen," Charity visibly eased up, sinking out of her rigid position. "what would that baby call us?" 

Charity didn't need time to think, "Yeah but that kid doesn't exist and," the air quotes returned along with a mocking tone she, herself thought was funny. "never ever... ever will!" 

A grin followed that could only be described of as smug. 

"So it won't call us anything, will it babe."

Vanessa didn't have another eye roll in her, but she did have half a smile's worth of blueberries left on top of her pancake remnants, so she picked one up and hurled it across the table at her other half. 

"You're so annoyin'!" 

Charity was taken aback by the blueberry hitting her square in the forehead. 

She was clearly amused as her shock turned into a smirk but she didn't have time to retaliate before the two women were rudely reminded that two small boys were at the table with them.

Two small boys who did sometimes listen in on the goings on, usually when their mothers would prefer them to least.

Moses looked to Johnny, who looked back at Moses, both grabbing a piece of sliced fruit from their plates.

It was as if everything moved in slow motion for the next few seconds, Vanessa leaning across the table stop the boys in their tracks yelling, "Nooo!" while Charity, the more street smart of the two took cover, both hands grabbing hold of a table mat to cover her face before the boys let go of bits of half chewed strawberry and banana. 

Charity's shield took the brunt of it, only another blueberry making it past and lodging itself in blonde hair, while Vanessa was pelted to oblivion. Who knew a couple of three year old's could be so brutal?

"HAAAAAA!" The safer of the two let out the loudest cackle, filled to the brim with amusement. 

"IT'S NOT FUNNY!" Vanessa whimpered, shaking a banana string from her nose while trying to carefully dab a squashed strawberry off of her otherwise clean top. 

"It's a bit funny." Charity snickered, finally deciding it was safe enough to put her shield down and get up from the table. "Anyway, you started it."

Vanessa wanted to cry but she couldn't help laughing. It was her own fault, Charity was right and those boys... God, why did they have to be so bloody cute! Even when being little horrors. 

"You're a bad influence, my babe," Charity's mood had perked up tenfold. A nice bit of misfortune could do that for her. 

She headed for the drawer she knew Vanessa kept clean cloths and things like baby wipes in and whipped out an open packed. 

"C'mere boys, let me clean you up while Thing Two picks banana out of her ears." 

 

It was clear who was boss in this house, much to Vanessa's dismay. Both small boys hopped down from their chairs and went to Charity like she'd told them to, both with a cheeky smile on their faces she was almost a bit too proud of. She didn't want either one to turn out like her and if she prayed, she'd pray to God that both took after Ness, but for a moment there, seeing their playfulness in full swing and how proud they were of the chaos they'd caused, she did manage to feel a little like maybe it wouldn't be too horrendous if they picked up a tiny bit of her, too. 

"Moses, how'd you manage to get a fruit stain on the end of your nose?" Charity bopped her son on his button nose getting the sweetest rosy-cheeked grin in reply. "People will be thinking Christmas came early, Rudolph!" 

Both Johnny and Moses couldn't help but giggle at that. 

"Yeah and Father Christmas will be putting you two on the naughty list for pelting your mummy slash Vanessa with breakfast!" Vanessa added with a mock pout.

Charity, already crouched down at the little ones level, pulled the boys in either side of her, managing to block their ears partly with her body and partly with a hand each.

"Shh! Don't listen to her. She's just grumpy 'cause Thing One isn't cool with you calling her Mummy Ness." 

Vanessa poked out her tongue at that, letting her girlfriend know exactly what she thought about it. 

The boys were released from Charity's hold, each letting her help him clean up his face and hands so no sticky residue made it across the rest of the house.

"Go on then, baba's," she gave both a gentle tap on the back in the direction of the scattered mess of toys they'd left behind. "go finish your car crash." 

Vanessa raised a brow. Charity Dingle was hardly the most PC of mothers but all she got was a soft smile instead of a scolding. 

Watching Charity interact with her children was one of Vanessa's favourite pastimes. It was and would be a forever wonder of hers as to why Charity couldn't see what a great mum she really was. There had been mistakes, maybe even more than your average parent commits in a lifetime but Charity truly and wholly loved her children and it was as clear as anything to the woman who loved her most. 

 

It was also clear as anything that Charity wasn't going to be cleaning up the mess the boys had made at the table but Vanessa didn't mind. Instead of starting the clean up process herself, she watched as the little ones went back to their game with more vigour than before. Giggles and crash sounds made with their words as well as the literal toy cars smashing into one another. Those things were built of sturdy stuff, she thought to herself. 

Charity pulled her out of her dream state by tugging her into a cuddle. 

"Oh hello," Vanessa smiled brightly. She often did when things were good and she had her girlfriend's full attention.

"Hey," the taller woman smiled softly. That's what she was lately. Really bloody soft. Just like her lips as she closed in and pressed them against the shorter one's.

"Is this where you butter me up so I clean up the kitchen and you don't have to?" Vanessa's brow quirked.

"Babe, you know me so well, it's getting ridiculous." 

Charity's hands grasped Vanessa's waist, tugging her in with a bump of their hips together. Vanessa reacted with a keen hum as her arms snaked the other woman's shoulders and she took it upon herself to initiate a second kiss. This time it a little less innocent, something she'd have considered not suitable to be had in the same room as two three year old's but the boys were used to their mothers displays of affection and neither one bothered to even glance up from their toys. Charity brought a hand up to nestle in Vanessa's already messed up hair while she used her hips to nudge her into the table's edge. 

There, the door burst open and before either woman had a chance to break away from the kiss they were so obviously enjoying, a loud, "Eurrghh!" filled the room.

Noah. 

Vanessa's cheeks turned scarlet while Charity peered around her girlfriend with no shame whatsoever. "Yeah, alright babe, it's not like we're naked."

Vanessa could have died on the spot, she chose that moment to wriggle free of Charity's hold and get on with cleaning up. It wouldn't do itself. 

Noah's face grimaced more than it ever had before. "Mum! GROSS!" 

At least they had one thing to be grateful for. It wasn't bloody Paddy. 


End file.
